LIFE member Adam Holland proudly took his Tavistock Athletic Club running vest deep into the Arctic Circle to fulfil a dream - to take part in the most northerly marathon on solid ground.

The Spitsbergen marathon, which took place on Sunday, June 7, attracts runners from all over the world, drawn by the challenge of this iconic event.

Spitsbergen is the largest and only permanently populated island in Norway's Svalbard archipelago, lying some 800 miles from the North Pole and around 600 miles to the most northerly points of mainland Norway.

The Spitsbergen marathon takes place in June each year where weather conditions are more survivable than during the winter when the seas will freeze over completely.

In fact, for this year's event, the temperature during the run was an unseasonably warm eight deg C.

Running on a mix of gravel and asphalt, the route starts and finishes in the town of Longyearbyen. The risks posed by polar bears mean that armed guards are stationed along the route!

Adam was nursing an injury sustained during a 10k race just a few days previously and had to battle strong winds throughout the run.

Nevertheless, amongst 123 intrepid finishers, he succeeded in standing on the podium by clinging on to third place overall, with an excellent time of 3hr 23min 0s, nearly two minutes ahead of his nearest rival. Due to all the challenges, Adam said it was one of the toughest marathons he has ever done.

Much closer to home, on Tuesday, Exeter City Runs held the third of their latest of their flat and fast 5k races, attracting elite athletes of all ages seeking to improve their performances over the distance.

As usual, the race comprised two laps around the Exwick Plymouth fields and along the River Exe.

TAC juniors Freddie Whybrow and Eldon Young excelled themselves by taking first and second place overall amongst 173 finishers with both recording the stunning finishing time of 15min 40s.

They were followed home by Sam Larkham, in 10th place overall, in 16:19. Also running achieving impressive sub 20-min performances were Emma Ryder in 17:51, Adam Holland in 17:52 and another junior, Archie Neale in 19:37. Elizabeth Gillam finished strongly in 20:16, junior Oliver Neale in 20:51, and Helen Kula-Przezwanski in 28:07

Much closer to home, and also on Sunday, was the Swansea half marathon. The race is one of the most popular half marathons in Wales due to its lack of hills - it's a fast and scenic coastal route with views across Swansea Bay from start to finish, perfect for those seeking to improve their times over the distance.

TAC were represented by sisters Nikki Kelly (now Nikki Bond) and Anna Kelly. NIkki shattered her personal best with a superb time of 1:17:01, taking fourth place in her FSen age category. Anna too excelled, also breaking her PB time, breaking two hours by completing in 1:57:55.

Meanwhile, The tough Dartmoor Discovery 32-mile ultramarathon took place on Sunday, starting and finishing at Princeton with a single lap road course through the heart of Dartmoor.

Soozie Trice represented Tavistock Athletic Club with an impressive time of 5:29:10, taking eighth place overall and gaining second place in her F50 category.